Helpless
by storm-aurora
Summary: Y just rescued her mother from the enemy's clutches, and now her best friend has run straight into them. How is she supposed to handle all of this on her own?


**A/N: This was _supposed_ to be just Laverre angst, but the story I wanted to tell wound up being a bit more than that. And it was originally published on her birthday, so I thought a fic that focuses on Y's relationship with more than just X would be an appropriate celebration of it. So, without further ado, I hope you enjoy :)**

"St-stay c-calm, everyone! D-don't panic!"

"Looks like _you're_ the one who needs to calm down…"

I glance between my friends with a sigh. Trevor's waving his hands frantically in front of him and his eyes are twice as big as normal, while Shauna has her hands on her hips and an irritated look on her face.

"What's the matter, Trevor?" I ask, assuming it's not a big deal.

"X has disappeared!"

It takes a moment for the information to sink in. _Disappeared? X? But our pact…_

"What are you talking about!?" I demand, grabbing Trevor's vest and yanking him towards me. My sudden burst of anger is fueled by X's actions, but I direct it at Trevor for lack of another outlet.

"X-ey is holed up in that tree!" Shauna reminds him crossly.

"H-he was," Trevor stammers. "But not anymore. I have a pretty good idea where he is, though…"

He gestures to the Pokémon beside him – the Klefki that we found hanging around my mom. Klefki holds up one of the items on its ring, and I let go of Trevor so Shauna, Tierno, and I can all get a good look at it. It's a pair of glasses with a faint image projected onto the lenses – a town, with a circle of tall rocks jutting out of the ground in its center.

Shauna frowns at it. "What's this?"

"And where's this?" Tierno adds.

"That's Geosenge Town," Trevor explains. "These are Clemont's glasses, remember? They show the image recorded by the camera on his Aipom Arm."

"Klefki must have picked these up where my mom was being held," I say slowly, thinking out loud. "Team Flare's hideout. If Clemont's glasses were there, Clemont must still be there too…"

"X-ey must have seen this…"

"…and headed down there…on his own," Tierno finished.

I let out a frustrated yell, clenching my fists by my sides. "That idiot, idiot, _idiot!_ "

I wish he was here so I could slap him in the face. I can't believe him, going out and breaking our five-friend pact like it's nothing! We made that pact because we didn't know who to trust besides ourselves. It's supposed to be that if we're going to split up, we all have to agree that it's the only plan of action. Instead, he's off challenging Team Flare right now, with no help and not even a word to us about where he's going. He must think that we're all so _incompetent_ that we'll only be _deadweights_ if we come with him.

Honestly! He couldn't _possibly_ have thought it was safe for him to take on Team Flare all on his own. It's not that I doubt his skill as a Trainer – he's the best Trainer out of all of us by a long shot. It just hurts to realize that he doesn't trust us enough to at least back him up while he takes on Team Flare's elite. Even the most talented Trainer in the whole world can't win against a team who outnumbers him a hundred to one. It's a reckless, dangerous, and stupid move. He could get himself killed!

 _What if he does get himself killed?_

My heart stops for a split second, and I suddenly feel lightheaded and heavy at the same time. It's the same feeling of dread that overwhelmed me not long ago, when Clemont told me that he had seen my mom walking away with a few Team Flare Grunts. As frustrated as I am at X, it doesn't change the fact that I don't know what will happen to him – what might be happening to him right now. If he gets overwhelmed by Team Flare, he could get captured, injured or worse – and all three of those possibilities are making my limbs freeze and my heart race now.

I just don't know how to prepare for them. When my mom disappeared, there was enough uncertainty surrounding it that I didn't consider the worst possibilities. When I was faced with the certainty that she was working with or at least a captive of Team Flare, I just turned inward because I didn't know how to respond. But my friends need a leader now more than ever, so I can't afford to withdraw into myself again.

But when I try to think of how to prepare for it – especially the worst-case scenario, in which X…doesn't…doesn't make it…I can't. I can't think. I can only feel, and what I feel is an ache in my chest, an ache that hurts even more than being slammed by a helicopter blade. I can only make it go away if I force myself to quash my feelings and think rationally. But rational thought is still a struggle. The ache persists. I don't know how to make it stop anymore.

"Y?"

"Y-ey?"

"Y, are you…?"

The concerned voices of my friends break into my melancholy contemplations and I come back to an awareness of my surroundings. They're blurry, and I realize that my eyes have welled up with unshed tears. I unclench my fists and rub my eyes, wiping most of those tears away. I look from Trevor to Tierno to Shauna, my childhood friends, who are still here with me, and I take a shaky breath.

"I – I'm okay. I'll be okay," I say. "We need to tell the Gym Leaders about this." As long as I have something to do, something that will help me get to X, I can put my fears to the back of my mind and keep myself operating.

After we pass on the news to them, the Gym Leaders decide they need to launch an attack on Team Flare's hideout as soon as possible. They begin making plans immediately. We're not invited to join the conversation, so I decide it's time I talked to my mom – between rescuing the other kidnapped residents of Vaniville and training with Master Gurkinn, I haven't yet gotten the chance to. Shauna promises to fetch me once the Gym Leaders are ready to leave. However, if I'm going to leave with them, I have to change into my sky suit first – it'll definitely provide an advantage to be able to fly without a Pokémon's help when we're fighting Team Flare. Once I'm changed, I head to my mom's hospital room.

She's still lying unconscious in her cot, calm and still. It makes my heart sink to see her that way, so starkly contrasted to her lively and stubborn personality. I wish I could talk to her when she's awake to hear me, but I know I don't have any more time – when I entered the hospital, it looked like the Gym Leaders were just finishing their planning. I clasp one of her hands between both of mine; I've already decided what I'm going to say to her.

"Mom, I…I never realized it until now," I begin solemnly. "I never got the chance to tell you, but I…I respect you. And I really appreciate you teaching me to ride a Rhyhorn. That's really come in handy." I have to stop for a moment; the next part is the hardest to say, but it's also the most necessary. "I'm sorry for all the awful things I said to you. I understand now…"

Although I did mean those words when I said them, I was feeling angry and betrayed back then, and I spoke without thinking clearly. Though my mother can be frustrating at times, I would be devastated if I truly never saw her again. I love her, and I never could have gotten to where I am today – I never could have become the girl I am today – without her.

"I'll come back, Mom," I whisper hoarsely. "I swear. So when I come home, I need you to be there waiting for me…okay?" I squeeze her hand, and a tear falls on it.

It's hard to get all the words out. As relieving as it is to finally say them out loud, I still feel so helpless. I practiced this speech so that, in case it's the last time I see my mother, my last words to her wouldn't be "Don't bother coming back". I hate the fact that I'm in a situation where that precaution is necessary to take.

I'm afraid that I've ended up in a situation like that with X, too. But I feel even more helpless regarding him – I have no idea where he is right now, though I know he's in a dangerous situation. I might never see him again, or if I do, I might find him as lifeless as my mother in front of me. I don't know how to react in either situation, and that frustrates me just as much as it pains me. I don't _want_ to plan for X's…passing…but I need to have a plan or a course of action to take, or else I'll completely shut down again…

"Y-ey! Hurry! The Gym Leaders just left!"

Shauna skids into the room, breaking me out of my dismal meditations once again. But as I follow her out of the hospital to where Cassius, Trevor, and Tierno are standing, I realize something that seems so obvious now that I wonder why I hadn't thought of it before.

I _do_ have a course of action to take.

The four of us friends all decided that we'll join the Gym Leaders in their attack on Team Flare's headquarters. When we get there, if X is alright, there'll be no reason for concern. If he's not, we'll figure out the best thing to do from there together.

 _Get ready, Team Flare. You're threatening the people and region I love? I'll make you regret it._


End file.
